Cheap Travel Money Discussion Area

TakeThis

heloid wrote: »

I just got a Metro Bank credit card before I go home to NZ.
No ATM fee
No foreign transaction fee
No exchange rate loading (Mastercard rate)
0% interest on everything (including cash withdrawals) until September 2012. I just need to make minimum payments and I can essentially use it as a debit card with an overdraft

Probably a better deal than Halifax Clarity right now if you're able to get to London.

Why probably?

heloid

Interest rate is higher than Clarity and you have to open a current account with them. I guess things can be subjective

pcyuljr

Hi,

About to head off to New York next year.

Two questions;

1) I'm planning on taking £500 cash which I need to get converted. However the sites maximising this exchange using the MSE tool don't seem to have an option to request certain denominations.

My concern being I don't want to be given 7xhundred dollar bills and a fifty when we are using the cash for tips, sandwiches, coffees etc. Anybody know this problem?


2) I was going to take £500 back up on the Fair FX card. They offer a £5 bonus for adding this sum. Then if not needed, I was going to come back to the UK and withdraw the balance at an ATM. They charge a $2 fee per ATM transaction. As such, it may work out I actually make a profit doing this (£5 bonus = $7.50 - $4 = $3.50 profit! Assuming $2 x 2 withdrawal transactions required to get my full balance back)

Have I worked something out wrong here, as it doesn't seem right and I feel I'm missing a piece of info?

Thanks in advance.

TakeThis

heloid wrote: »

Interest rate is higher than Clarity and you have to open a current account with them. I guess things can be subjective

Higher? How so?

TakeThis

pcyuljr wrote: »

Hi,

About to head off to New York next year.

Two questions;

1) I'm planning on taking £500 cash which I need to get converted. However the sites maximising this exchange using the MSE tool don't seem to have an option to request certain denominations.

My concern being I don't want to be given 7xhundred dollar bills and a fifty when we are using the cash for tips, sandwiches, coffees etc. Anybody know this problem?


2) I was going to take £500 back up on the Fair FX card. They offer a £5 bonus for adding this sum. Then if not needed, I was going to come back to the UK and withdraw the balance at an ATM. They charge a $2 fee per ATM transaction. As such, it may work out I actually make a profit doing this (£5 bonus = $7.50 - $4 = $3.50 profit! Assuming $2 x 2 withdrawal transactions required to get my full balance back)

Have I worked something out wrong here, as it doesn't seem right and I feel I'm missing a piece of info?

Thanks in advance.

For some really annoying reason, you are mixing your currencies. They don't charge a US$2 fee in the UK. We have our own currency.

Not sure when they add the £5 to your total, but it does seem in that instance that you will be £2 ahead.

dzug1

pcyuljr wrote: »

Hi,

About to head off to New York next year.

Two questions;

1) I'm planning on taking £500 cash which I need to get converted. However the sites maximising this exchange using the MSE tool don't seem to have an option to request certain denominations.

My concern being I don't want to be given 7xhundred dollar bills and a fifty when we are using the cash for tips, sandwiches, coffees etc. Anybody know this problem?


2) I was going to take £500 back up on the Fair FX card. They offer a £5 bonus for adding this sum. Then if not needed, I was going to come back to the UK and withdraw the balance at an ATM. They charge a $2 fee per ATM transaction. As such, it may work out I actually make a profit doing this (£5 bonus = $7.50 - $4 = $3.50 profit! Assuming $2 x 2 withdrawal transactions required to get my full balance back)

Have I worked something out wrong here, as it doesn't seem right and I feel I'm missing a piece of info?

Thanks in advance.

The value of the notes you are given is always a potential problem, even with ATMs. The way round it is to buy over the counter (=more expensive) and hope that they have suitable notes to give you

You could make a small profit on the FairFx Anywhere card, yes. It's £1.50 per transaction in the UK. But you'd have to find an ATM dispensing £5 notes or land up with an annoying balance you can't do anything with.

KTF

TakeThis wrote: »

Higher? How so?

The interest rate applied to cash withdrawals.

TakeThis

KTF wrote: »

The interest rate applied to cash withdrawals.

So, let's see your figures.

I think that you are quite wrong.

KTF

TakeThis wrote: »

So, let's see your figures.

I think that you are quite wrong.

I thought it was Clarify v Santander Zero, not Clarity v Metro.

pcyuljr

TakeThis wrote: »

For some really annoying reason, you are mixing your currencies. They don't charge a US$2 fee in the UK. We have our own currency.

Not sure when they add the £5 to your total, but it does seem in that instance that you will be £2 ahead.

Thanks for your contribution......but for some really annoying reason you're wrong, as per below, the fee was $2 even withdrawing from an ATM in Blackburn area.

Debit Credit
2010-06-20 $24.09 Card Load
2010-06-24 $327.09
2010-06-24 $2.00 Fin: E00620700000000,PRESTONWAY,BLACKBURN
(transaction fee for £220.00)

The card is in dollars, every transaction (load and withdrawal) on it shows in dollars, regardless of where the transaction occurs. That is the point of a dollar card.